A Charter Skipper For Fly Fishermen

Article Date: April 1992

New Jersey may not be the saltwater fly fishing capitol of the world, but it does offer opportunities to catch quite a few kinds of fish on a fly enough anyway to inspire one young skipper to go into the saltwater flyfishing charter business. His name is Captain Gene Berger and he is so devoted to fly fishing he calls his 32 foot Blackfin sportfisherman, "ON A FLY."

Berger sails from Brielle Yacht Club Marina, five minutes from the ocean on the Manasquan River. This means his boat is easily reached by anglers anywhere in the general New York/Philadelphia area. He targets bluefish, striped bass, bluefin tuna, mako sharks and (in season) even distant offshore species such as longfin albacore, yellowfin tuna and white marlin.

Those of us who have fished with Berger know that fly rod fishing is more than a business to him; it's a passion. Perhaps that is why he has managed in three short years to build a following of fly fishermen, ranging from novice to hard core. Of course, the fact that he is usually successful on the water helps a lot too!

He typically begins his season this month (April) with some "warm up" trips for Atlantic mackerel. The fishing for these mini tuna typically involves the use of rods as light as No. 6. It is next month, however, with the annual invasion of bluefish, that the ball really gets rolling. Bluefish are fine game for novice and experienced flyrodders alike. Spring run blues tend to be long, lean and extremely hard fighting. They run from eight to 15 pounds and are fast to take any of a number of Deceiver patterns in white, red, chartreuse and black.

Berger fishes for spring blues at anchor, using a chum slick to attract f........(continued)

CONTACT DETAILS FOR COMPANIES/INDIVIDUALS MENTIONED IN ARTICLE (if any)

Captain Gene Berger. 120 Morningside Road. Verona, NJ, 07044. Tel. 201-652-5020, 201-857-9140